Suspension system for a bicycle and damper device

Abstract

A suspension system for a muscle-powered two-wheeled vehicle having a damper device with a first damper chamber and a second damper chamber coupled with one another via a controllable damping valve. A sensor captures data about at least one current state. An electronic control device and a storage device are provided for controlling the damper device. At least one damping characteristic of the damper device can be influenced by a signal from the control device. The damping valve has a field generating device assigned to it which serves to generate and control a field strength in a damping channel of the damping valve. A field-sensitive rheological medium is provided in the damping channel for controlling the damping characteristic of the damper device in dependence on the sensor data.

1 . A suspension system for an, at least partly muscle-powered, vehicle, the suspension system comprising:
 at least one damper device formed with a first damper chamber and at least one second damper chamber coupled with one another via at least one controllable damping valve;   a sensor disposed to detect data about a current state;   an electrical control device connected to said sensor and a memory device, said control device outputting a control signal controlling, and influencing a damping characteristic of, said damper device;   said damping valve having at least one damping channel and a field generating device associated therewith for generating a field and controlling a field strength in said at least one damping channel of said damping valve; and   a field-sensitive rheological medium in said damping channel for controlling the damping characteristic of said damper device in dependence on the data detected by said sensor.   
     
     
         2 . The suspension system according to  claim 1 , wherein said field generating device comprises at least one electric coil for generating a magnetic field. 
     
     
         3 . The suspension system according to  claim 1 , wherein said field generating device includes a permanent magnet whose field strength can be set by way of a magnetic pulse to a random value between zero and remanence. 
     
     
         4 . The suspension system according to  claim 3 , wherein said field generating device comprises at least one electric coil for generating the magnetic pulse. 
     
     
         5 . The suspension system according to  claim 3 , wherein said permanent magnet consists at least in part of a material selected from a group of materials consisting of AlNiCo, CuNiFe, FeCrCo, FeCoVCr, SmCo, NdFeB, FeCr, FeCoVCr, neodymium, and materials having comparable magnetic properties. 
     
     
         6 . The suspension system according to  claim 1 , which further comprises at least one electric energy storage device. 
     
     
         7 . The suspension system according to  claim 3 , which further comprises at least one electric energy storage device configured to provide electric energy for generating at least one magnetic pulse. 
     
     
         8 . The suspension system according to  claim 1 , which comprises at least one GPS sensor. 
     
     
         9 . The suspension system according to  claim 1 , wherein said sensor is at least one sensor for capturing shocks on said damping device and/or for capturing a road surface condition and/or for capturing an operating state of the vehicle. 
     
     
         10 . The suspension system according to  claim 1 , which comprises at least one operating device configured to enable different modes to be selected. 
     
     
         11 . The suspension system according to  claim 3 , wherein at least a part of said permanent magnet is disposed adjacent to said coil or surrounded by said coil. 
     
     
         12 . The suspension system according to  claim 1 , which comprises at least one partition wall dividing said damping channel into at least two sub-channels. 
     
     
         13 . The suspension system according to  claim 12 , wherein said sub-channels extend transversely to magnetic field lines of a magnetic field generated by said field-generating device. 
     
     
         14 . The suspension system according to  claim 1 , wherein said first damper chamber and said second damper chamber are disposed in one common damper housing at least in part and separated from one another by way of at least one damper piston. 
     
     
         15 . The suspension system according to  claim 1 , wherein said damping channel and said field generating device are configured such that said damping channel can be exposed to an inhomogeneous field over a cross-section thereof. 
     
     
         16 . The suspension system according to  claim 1 , which comprises at least one adjusting device for adjusting the field effective in said damping channel. 
     
     
         17 . The suspension system according to  claim 16 , wherein said adjusting device is configured adjust at least a portion of a cross-section of said damping channel that is exposed to a field of a specific strength such that the cross-section of said damping channel can be exposed to a field of a specific strength in part only. 
     
     
         18 . A damper device, comprising:
 a first damper chamber and at least one second damper chamber coupled with one another via at least one controllable damping valve;   said controllable damping valve having at least one damping channel formed therein containing a field-sensitive rheological medium;   at least one field generating device assigned to said at least one damping valve and serving to generate and control a field strength in said damping channel of said damping valve; and   at least one further, mechanical influencing means configured to influence and flow through said damping valve.   
     
     
         19 . The damper device according to  claim 18 , wherein at least one flow channel is provided in parallel to said damping channel. 
     
     
         20 . The damper device according to  claim 18 , wherein at least one flow channel is provided with a pre-biased check valve. 
     
     
         21 . The damper device according to  claim 18 , wherein at least one flow channel is provided with a pre-loaded shim. 
     
     
         22 . The damper device according to  claim 18 , wherein at least one flow channel is provided with an adjustable cross-section. 
     
     
         23 . The damper device according to  claim 22 , which comprises an adjustable threaded component for adjusting the cross-section of said at least one flow channel.